They may not quite be the Habsburgs or the Romanovs, but two dynasties will go head-to-head on Sunday to elect the new ruler of a tiny self-declared principality in Italy.
The village of Seborga, which overlooks the Italian Riviera in the north of the country, has insisted for nearly 60 years that it was never legally incorporated into Italy, citing documents that date back to the 18th century.
Over the years it has concocted all the trappings of an independent country, albeit a miniscule one laced with references to the Knights Templar, the Cathars and Cistercian monks , along with a healthy dollop of eccentricity.
Now, for the first time in the principality’s history, the inhabitants of the…
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